Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts
by Vampshaddix
Summary: Ch. 5 - The aftermath of having survived a nightmare.
1. World Without a Sun

The two liquorice foxes moved swiftly through the land, their destination unknown to all of the night creatures that stared. Their path was illuminated by the two light spheres in the dark sky. One of them, the furthest one, had been there since they had both come into existance. The other one, the closest, had appeared only a few days ago. Since it's birth, it had grown at a rather substantial rate.

The sphere was an unnatural blue color, something that the two members of the Kyuubi tribe were not used to seeing. Hoever, at the current moment, the source of light was at the bottom of their criteria. For now, they had to get to their destination.

"How much further?", the female liquorice fox, known as Akura, asked. Her companion, Keeta, spoke in a voice that could have been mistake for the sound of the air. "Just past the trees up ahead, then we go right. Move fast, Chief Kamon will want to know what we have found out as soon as possible."

They began to move faster as they broke through the thicket of trees, their course changing direction as they made a sharp turn.

They stopped abruptly as what appeared to be a shadow moved to their right. Their ears perked up, and they listened intently. Seconds passed, and nothing else seemed to move, or was heard for that matter, save for the trees rustling due to the night breeze. Yes, nothing else moved or made a sound.

"Must have just been the wind, we are moving rather quickly," Keeta breathed, "Come on, let's get moving."

Akura nodded in agreement, and followed the whisper in the wind that was Keeta. Soon, they were at the entrance of the village, where two great boulders blocked the progress of anyone who wasn't from the tribe. The male liquorice fox trotted over, and placed his paw where the two boulders met. They began to rumble, as the earth shook as they parted, revealing a path that led to a great fire that was surrounded by multiple huts.

They moved quietly toward the fire, not wanting to wake the other members of the tribe. The great Chief Kamon sat beside the fire, looking deep into it. He turned his attention to the two of them as they got near. He observed them as they bowed their heads, and acknowledged them by bowing his in return.

"What news do you bring of my missing son?", his rough voice was clearly lined with concern.

"Well-", Akura's voice died suddenly as the chief turned to face her. Her eyes quickly darted downward and stayed there determinedly as Keeta spoke in her place.

"Chief Kamon, we have traveled as far as the river where the garbage floats, and we have spoken to many beings, but there is no sign of Kale."

The chief let out a sigh, and turned his head upwards, his black eyes falling on the blue orb in the sky. Two days after it had appeared, his son had gone missing, completely vanished without a trace. He could only wonder wher Kale was, and if he was still a part of this world.

* * *

He was weak, his hind legs ached in great agony, two days of torture taking their toll, but the liquorice fox pushed passed the trees. He knew his captor was nearby, slowly following him, taunting him for trying to escape a third time.

"Come on Kale, almost there. Just a bit further," he kept urging himself forward, knowing safety was near. His breathing was becoming more erratic by the second, but he could just make out the spot where the two boulders stood.

As he finally arrived, he raised his paw with great difficulty, in order to touch the spot where the boulders met. Hope faded fast when he heard the insane cackle.

He felt a crushing blow, his captor had landed on him, pinning his arm and body to the ground. The being placed one foot on his arm, and the other on his back, applying a painful amount of pleasure to the young fox. His cries were drowned as the being cackled once more, reached down, forced Kale's head upright, and placed on it's sharp nails on his exposed neck.

The creature leaned down and hissed in his ear, "Thanks for showing me the way."

Kale could not fight back as the creatue lifted his paw and placed it on the boulders, allowing passage into the village. The fox let out one last pathetic whimper before a sharp pain shot through it's neck

* * *

The chief's ears perked up as the two boulders parted. Only a paw from the Kyuubi tribe could cause the objects to part; had his son returned?

Akura and Keeta kept their eyes fixed on the path, somehting was moving towards them, but it didn't seem quadrupedal. No, the shadow that was moving towards them was bipedal, an outsider that had somehow gained access to their village. Simultaneously, they assumed a fighting stance, ready to defend theif home against any invaders.

A sudden gust of wind rushed through the place, extinguishing the great flame and throwing everything into the darkness. The very act however, caused the rest of the tribe to awaken and join the other three foxes in the center of the village. Their eyes quickly adjusted to the scene, and they could all make out the shape of the being in front of them.

The chief moved toward the front of the pack, stopping a few feet from the figure in the shadows. Kamon stomped his front paw, a sign of aggression, and spoke with a snarl. "You, who so casually walks into my village, explain your reason for being here, or else fall to my fury!"

The tribe joined their leader in snarling at the intruder, but they fell short as the figure emitted a high-pitched cackle. It seemd unfazed by their threatening act, a chilling reaction to the possibility of losing it's life.

"'Your fury'? Please, don't make me laugh," the figure hissed, "You're nothing compared to me."

A feeling of shock resonated through the chief, what was this being that made it so bold?

It was then a thought passed through Kamon's head. He had once met a being that stood on two feet, and it's figure was built similarly, but he had heard that it was the lsat of it's kinda. Either way, he spoke up again, "You, are you what is known as a 'hyoomen'?"

"I guess you can say that."

"Then step into the moonlight and allow me to see your face."

The tribe tensed up as the "hyoomen" stepped forward, allowing itself to be bathed in the light of the moon and the orb. From what they could see, the top half of it's body was checkered with red and black. The bottom half was blue, with scars here and there. It's hair was jet black and long, shielding halfway down it's face.

Chief Kamon looked it over many times, "Why are you odd colored and wounded at your lower self?"

The "hyoomen" chuckled, "They're called 'clothes', something you are not used to."

By now they could tell it was male, it was obvious because of the husky sound behind his voice. The foxes looked at one another, all of them wondering the same thing; what could a hyoomen be doing this face from the Kingdom of Sweets located to the east?

Keeta stepped to the chief's side, and addressed his question to the being in front of them, "Tell us, why are you here? What is it you want from us?"

The "hyoomen" turned to face Keeta, and spoke in a voice that was laced with hisses, "You see, I'm here to recruit you. My partner and I are in dire need of members in our little quest."

Kamon quizzically cocked his head, "A quest? Why would you need us, the members of the Kyuubi tribe to assist you in a quest? Further more, what passes through your mind that makes you believe we would help you?"

The figure cocked it's own head, "Oh, you will help us in our quest. Your souls are needed to revive Luna."

At these words, Kamon became defensive. A simple being dared to threaten his tribe? By the Ancient Ones of Sweet, he would not allow this!

"You dare to come into my village and threaten to take our souls? Just to revive this 'Luna'? Who, if I may, is known by this title?"

The "hyoomen" pointed a finger towards the sky, in the direction of the blue sphere. They all stared in awe as the sphere began to glow brighter, could this "hyoomen" have caused the object to appear?

"Like I said, your souls are needed to revive Luna."

Kamon would hear no more, he turned towards the figure and snarled, "Leave! You have no right to come into my village and say you will take our lives! You should be honored, many would have fallen to my fury by now, leave while you still have the chance!"

"Funny, this one said you would react this way," the being raised the hand that was clutching onto something, something, that when illuminated in the light, appeared to be a dead body.

A familiar scent passed through the air, and Kamon felt a horrible feeling sink into his stomach as he realized who the body used to be.

"Is that...my son?", Kamon's voice was barely audible, but contained shock and despair.

Without a word, the being tossed the limp body over. As the moonlight hit it, they all realized the horrible truth. There, broken and battered, lay Kale's body.

Kamon's fury broke through as a realization dawned on him, "It was you! The one who kidnapped him was you! But why, what is it that I have done to you?"

The entire tribe was ready to strike, all ready to avenge Kale. Before they could advance though, the "hyoomen" raised it's hand, an act that caused confusion to pass over them. Suddenly, a small ball of fire formed in it's hand, and shot past all of them, toward the spot where the great fire had stood. It ignited a new one, bringing light to the village once more. They all turned to face the "hyoomen", only to see him standing there, a twisted smile on his face that exposed his...fangs?

The chief had heard horrible tales of a creatue with fangs. A creature that would drain the red life-force from it's prey. He looked no different than what had been described to him before. The pale skin proved that what stood before them was that deadly predator, a vampire.

Turning to face his tribe, Kamon's voice was the loudest it had ever been in his lifetime.

"Run! All of you run now! Get to the boulders, get out of here!", he ordered, but to no avail. A great fire surrounded them all as the vampire cackled, the sick sound resonating through the woods around them.

Kamon turned back in time to see the creature fly at him at full force. He had no time to react as it wrestled him to the ground, it's strikes landing at break-neck speed. He felt his insides explode in pain, his bones snap and crack in ways that caused a white-hot punishment to resonate within him. He could not fight back as the apex predator forced his head up, exposing his neck.

"I am going to _enjoy_ this", it hissed in his ear.

Kamon felt a sharp pain in his neck, and, as the darkness slowly creeped in, he could see the frightened looks on the tribe he had failed.

* * *

Marshal Lee wiped his mouth, and licked his fangs clean. He looked around him, smirking at the carnage. His yellow, cat-like eyes traveled up to where the blue orb was. It seemed to have gotten larger and brighter, a good sign.

A _very_ good sign indeed.

* * *

**AN:**

**Yes, the second part has begun earlier than planned, something I didn't not account for. To be honest, I finished this chapter the same day I finished the last chapter in "Heads or Tails?", so I thought, "Hey, might as well upload it."  
Unfortunately, this does not mean that I will be doing any more chapters any time soon, but I do plan to start near the end of the month. Until then, this will have to do.**


	2. Dez Moines

She could feel the sunlight hitting her face, a warm sensation. She raised her hand slowly to shield her eyes as she opened them. The are around her was too bright, everything was out of focus. She decided to wait until her eyes adjusted before taking a look around her. Everything slowly came into focus; the vast, green field that housed one enormous tree seemed all too familiar to her.

Fionna quickly got to her feet, a feeling of shock surging through her. The last time she had been here was in one of her dreams, so she instantly knew this was yet another dream. As she began to walk to the great tree, disbelief washed over her. She could not believe that everything was intact, especially since last time the entity known as "Luna" brought destruction to this place.

A cold liquid seemed to trickle down into Fionaa's veins as she kept walking. The memory of what happened last time caused a chill to run down her spine; the bright blinding light, the screams of her friends, the fact that Luna's appearance was shockingly familiar, it was overwhelming. Tears somehow found their way down her cheeks, causing her to stop abruptly and try to regain her composure.

Dark clouds began to move in, covering the sun and casting the flied into darkness. It was impossible for Fionna to see more than a foot in front of her. She knew the tree was somewhere ahead of her, and she wasn't going to stay in one spot, so she had no choice but to continue blindly. Extending her hand as she went, Fionna attempted to try and remember how she entered the dream realm this time.

Her memory seemed to be completely clouded; she could only gather fractions of what had happened. The roaring of the Baneling, the Ice Queen screeching for her blood, Marshall Lee's sudden betrayal. It all seemed like a dream, but she knew it was reality.

Her hand came into contact with the tree, causing to stop before she continued and met face first with it. Thankful she wasn't too lost in thought, Fionna traced her hand over the majestic organism. After a few minutes, she decided to try and plunge further into her memory. One thing seemed to push through: Marshall's backstabbing actions.

Her memory was foggy about everything else, but not about that. His once black eyes were yellow and cat-like the day the darkness inside of him consumed everything he used to be. At first The Imprisoned seemed to be the one to blame, due to the fact that it seemed to slowly poison her friend's mind. As time progressed though, Marshall didn't seem to be under anyone's control. On the contrary, he seemed to be in control of himself as well as being aware of his actions.

She closed her hand, forming a fist that she used to make contact with the tree. Pain resonated throughout her knuckles and up her arm, but she kept driving her right hand into the perennial woody plant. Questions began to pop into her head relentlessly, explosions that began to build off of one another. She wanted to know if there was anything that could have been done, or said. If there was anything that could have prevented all of this from happening. She wanted to know if she could have done something different that night he came to her house. It wasn't until she felt the skin on her knuckles burst open, and the blood flow that she finally stopped.

Throwing her head to the dark sky, Fionna closed her eyes and tried to control her anger. It was a difficult task due to the fact that she had to turn her pants into short controlled breaths. All she really wanted to know was why; why would he just turn his back on them? It seemd to take a prolonged amount of time, but the young teen finally regulated her breathing and opened her eyes slowly.

She was taken aback upon noticing that the skies had cleared up. It was as if the dark clouds left when her anger subsided. Her eyes now fell to the floor, she would find a way to get him back and that was a promise she intended to keep. For now, Fionna's main objective was to try and find a way out of this dream realm.

Turning her back on the tree, her eyes quickly scanned the area. There was only green in the vast field, nothing more. The teen let out a frustrated sigh, she did not want to walk the great distance if there was nothing else to even walk to. Given the current circumstances though, she had little to no choice.

She began to walk, her eyes set forward on the horizon, but stopped as she heard a low hissing noise. Her head swung back and forth, her battle instincts kicking in. She kept trying, but she was unable to pinpoint the origin of said noise. A cold chill trickled down her back, tracing her spine; Fionna immediately faced turned to face the tree, and withheld a scream. There, with his torso protruding from the tree itself, was Marshall Lee.

She was hesistant to move closer, but also to back away further. She was rooted at the spot by an unknown force. She felt both fear and relief wash over her at once, making it impossible for her to properly channel an appropriate emotion.

There was a loud cracking noise as he turned his head upward. He looked at her, the black in his eyes looking into the blue of her own. There were traces of fatigue in his eyes, along with a distinct feeling of sadness behind that. "Hey, fancy seeing you here, blondie.", his voice sounded extremely hoarse, as if he had been silent for some time.

Fionna couldn't believe it at first, she really didn't know how to react. After what had happened, here he was greeting her as if nothing had changed. She knew that it was really him, but she was still hesitant to try and do anything. The question that traveled through her mind was: what was he doing here?

She began to move closer, she was catious at first, but began to gain confidence as he flashed a smile. Stopping a meter from him, she stared into his eyes, more than thankful that they were their normal black. "What are you doing here Marshall? Shouldn't you be with The Imprisoned? Aren't you supposed to be resurrecting Luna?"

He flashed his signature smirk, "Do you really think I want to do that? Does it really look like I'm willing to bring back a deity? Is that what you think?"

"What am I supposed to think? I mean you turned your back on all of us! Hell, I don't even know if I can trust you anymore," she took a breath before asking, "Why? Why would you do this to us? _How_ could you do this to us?"

He seemed to be thinking carefully since he didn't answer immediately. "Fionna, I can honestly say I don't want to do this, but I have no choice. The Imprisoned told me...I have no choice."

"You always have a choice Marshall! You don't just get up and hurt someone out of the blue! You have the choice between doing a good deed and performing a sin!"

He winced slightly at her words, "Fi, if you knw what was really hppening, if you knew Luna's secret, then you'd see why I have no choice."

Fionna tilted her head, Luna had a secret?

She placed her hands on her hips and looked at Marshall, "How do I know this isn't a trick?"

He gave her another smirk, "If this were a trick, would I be stuck like this?"

She gave a slight nod, "True, so tell me Marshall, what's the secret?"

He looked at her and shook his head slowly. "Fionna, I can't tell you. If I did, then you'd be in more danger than you already are. Can't you see that I'm trying to do this to help you?"

The teen's voice turned cold, "If you wanted to help me, then you wouldn't have betrayed me in the first place. If you really wanted to help then you would have done something else, instead of beating the snot of out your friends.

He looked at her, "I'm sorry."

"Save it, now tell me what the secret is."

Marshall stared at her with a pathetic, pleading look in his eyes. When he realized it was no use, he took a redundant breath, "Okay, I'll tell you. Luna isn't just a deity that's changed to the world as we know it, she's actually the half of a human being. Together, they make a divine being."

Fionna raised an eyebow, Luna was the half of a human?

"Who's her other half?"

He took another breath, "Luna is the pure side of the two halves, while the human is the tainted side. You can't have good without evil, and, if I'm correct, then-"

His sentence was cut short as branches began to spourt from the tree and violently wrap themselves around him. It was horribly reminiscent to a spider closing in on her prey. Fionna stared in horror as in a few seconds only Marshall's chest and head were visible through the cocoon of wood. As their eyes came into contact once more, she could see the blood freezing fear in his eyes, something she would never have thought he could feel.

Against the laws of physics, an electric current began to surge through the tree. Fionna could feel the ground tremble and hear the air crackling. Cracks began to burst forth along with electricity that began to lash out at the teen. She began to dodge left and right, she could hear Marshall screaming in pain, but couldn't look at him without getting hurt. As his screaming got louder, she looked up and grew to regret it.

A bolt of electricity shot out at her, coming into contact with her leg. Fionna wince as the surge violated her body and left a stinging mark on her limb. She fell to her side, her vision cloudy and mind foggy.

Marshall's screams increased in intensity which made Fionna snap into action. Without thinking, Fionna ran forward, grabbed onto the branches, and tried to pry them off. Within milliseconds, the current began to run through her, soon taking a toll on her nervous system and internal organs.

She didn't know why she was here, she couldn't remember why she was trying to help the pale teen. The next second, she remembered everything and used her depleting strength to get him out of there. Her lungs suddenly ceased to function, and began to work again. She seemed to forget everything again, but then remembered it the next. The teen's heart raced to it's maximum capacity, and then was no more, yet came back to function in the next second.

Through it all, one thought seemed to remain, and that was to get the branches off Marshall. Nothing else was important right now, not even her own life. She tried to look at him, but her nervous system was preventing her to do so. Fionna wouldn't give up though, she fought until she had her head up to his.

He managed to look into her eyes once more, "S...stop Luna...".

One last powerful surge of electricity, and the world exploded. Fionna was thrown backwards, in a second she could see the the blue sky with all it's beauty, she could remember the way it used to be, she remembered everyone that got hurt by the coming of Luna. Then, she crashed down, but not to the ground. Instead, she fell into the dark abyss, nothing could be seen, felt, or heard; everything was a whisper in the wind.

Could she stop Luna? Could she save Marshall? Could she save the kingdom?

She didn't know, all she knew was that the darkness' cold hands closed around her, mirroring the way Marshall was ambushed. The air began to swirl around her, suffocating her slowly.

"Stop Luna."

* * *

Fionna woke up with a start, the sweat running down her forehead. Marshall was in trouble, she knew that much for sure. She didn't know why he was trying to communicate with her, but she knew it meant that the real Marshall was somewhere in their, trapped in the same way that he was trapped in her dream.

"I'll find you Marsh, I promise I'll save you."

Flinging her legs out of the hospital bed, Fionna quickly grabbed her pack which was on the desk. She winced as she pulled her it onto her, and painfully bent down to pick up her sword. As she began to leave, she remembered she left something behind. Turning back to grab it, Fionna pulled her hat on, bunching up her blonde hair under it. With one last look around the room, the teen turned to the door, and began to walk.


	3. Keep Your Enemies Close

Gripping the handle, Fionna flung the door open and jumped a little as she found herself face to face with Cake. At the exact time that she jumped, her feline sister let out a surprised yowl.

"Dude, what the flip! You almost made me jump out of my skin!

"Hey, it's not my fault I was just coming to check up on you!"

Fionna pursed her lips, folded her arms and raised an eyebrow, "Well I'm fine, Cake."

The cat mimicked her pose, "I can tell. But either way you're supposed to be on bed-rest. You took a beating from that Baneling."

It was true, the teen could remember that the Baneling beat her halfway to death. To add on, her limbs and torso were punished with lances of pains every other movement she did. It was a blow to her ego; she could not remember when a monster had left her in such a weakened state. Fionna was determined to never allow another damn thing leave her in such a state though, and that was a promise she would keep.

Looking back up at Cake, Fionna could see that she had THAT look on her face.

"What is it?"

Cake's eyes met her own, "Well, I just feel like you're pushing yourself too far honey. Maybe you should take it easy for a couple of days."

"'Take it easy'? Cake I don't have the luxury to 'take it easy' any more", Fionna said, "Not since we rescued Gumball from the Ice Queen."  
"I know, but since The Imprisoned and Marshall are gone now, maybe-"  
"That's why I can't take a break! I have to save Marshall Lee!"

With that said Fionna brushed past her sister and hurried through the medical ward. She knew that Cake would try and say something about her friend, but she wouldn't listen. She knew deep down that he needed to be rescued.

As she reached the door Cake quickly wrapped herself around her. Fionna struggled to break free, but it was no use; Cake's stretching abilities allowed her to become one of the tightest locks in the land.

"Let me go, I have to get out there!", she snarled at her sister.

"I can't Fionna, you have to listen to me!", Cake tightened her grip.

"I don't want to listen to any thing you have to say Cake! I know that I have to rescue him!"

"If you won't talk or listen to me then at least listen to Gumball!"

Fionna stopped struggling. Her eyes glued on the door, she remembered that Gumball also needed her. A sudden memory flashed by; she could remember hearing Gumball talk to Marshall, to convince him to come back to them. She could remember Marshall telling him that there was no going back, and then she couldn't remember any thing else.

Cake released her grip, "Please, at least talk to Gumball."

Fionna turned to face her and nodded silently. Allowing herself to be led, the blonde couldn't help but repeat her undead friend's words in her head over and over again.

"_There's no going back for me. This is what I am now."_

His voice was full of confidence as he spoke those words. He seemed to take pride in the fact that he had betrayed all of them, he seemed so happy about it. She wanted to believe that it was part of a plan, especially since in her dream he told her to stop Luna.

Luna. The name resonated through her brain, and she remembered that there was a deity about to rise. Here she was completely worried about her friend when something even worse was on it's way.

"We're here", Cake's voice broke through her thoughts, "I'll wait outside."

Fionna looked up at the door, amazed that she had not noticed they were already here. As Cake released her hand, she took a breath. She had to be prepared for what Gumball would say. Yet, she could not steady herself as her hand gripped the door's knob. Taking one last breath, she opened the door.

The room was lit by the sunlight that traveled through the open window. As she closed the door, Fionna kept her eyes on the figure of the prince that stood by the window. She winced as she spotted the bandages, stained with his dark-purple blood, wrapped around his torso.

"H..Hey Gumball."

The prince turned around and looked at her with a serious face. With some difficulty, he sat down in the chair beside him and motioned for Fionna to sit on the bed, facing him.

Without words, Fionna sat down and began to twiddle her thumbs, something she did when she felt uncomfortable. Who wouldn't feel uncomfortable when you have the Prince of the Candy Kingdom staring at you as if you had just been caught with your hand in the cookie jar?

After a minute or two, Fionna's patience was nearing it's end. "Gumball, will you tell me what's on your mind instead of having me sit here and make me go through this?"

"He's gone, Fionna."

His voice seemed hoarse, possibly due to not talking since he was confined to his room and on bed-rest. Yet, his voice had it's authority behind it, something Gumball always used when speaking about a serious matter.

Fionna looked at him, knowing the answer, but still wanting to ask, "Who's gone?"

He looked staight at her, "Marshall Lee. He's gone and there's nothing you can do to bring him back. It's best if we all just forget about him and try to deal with Luna."

Fionna tried her best to show no emotion; how could he tell her to do something like that?

She shook her head slightly, "I can't do that Gumball, he needs my help."

He gave her a stern look, and took a breath. "Fionna, you have to accept the fact that he's gone. There is no Marshall Lee, at least not the one we know. As of right now there is a deity on the rise, that should be your main concern."

"Gumball, I'm not going to-"

"He's gone! There is _nothing_ you can do for him!"

Fionna winced as he yelled at her; she had never seen Gumball so aggravated, never seen him lose his composure. She felt shaken, felt uncomfortable as he continued.

"I looked into his eyes and practically begged him to come back to his friends! All he did was smirk then proceed to try and eviscerate me! Marshall Lee no longer exists, you have to fucking understand that! On top of that there's a damn demon on it's way that can possibly destroy the land! You have to get your priorities straightened out!"

Fionna kept her gaze glued to the floor, for she did not want to look Gumball in the eyes when he was in such a state. She knew his words were right, but she fought to not believe them. She knew that Marshall needed to be rescued, that he was still on their side. He was just lost in the madness that his new powers and the words of The Imprisoned produced.

Well, she thought that was right. No, she knew she was correct..right? Or could Marshall actually have meant to kill Gumball and betray them all? No, it couldn't be..could it?

Fionna couldn't believe it anymore; she was actually doubting herself, she coudln't tell whether she was right or wrong about him. No matter how hard she tried, she could not justify his actions anymore. It was then she realized that a part of her accepted that he was gone, but the was still something in her that didn't want to believe it. It wanted to believe that he could still be rescued, that he would come back to them, that he would come back to her.

Something clicked in her as she repeated that last part over and over again. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she could not determine what she actually felt.

Regardless, she looked up at Gumball and nodded wordlessly. He looked into her eyes and let out a sigh, "Look I know you wish you could save him, believe me when I tell that I wish that too. But there's no way that we can accomplish that."

"I wouldn't say that there isn't a way."

Fionna would and could recognize that voice, with it's high-pitched, annoying tone from a mile away. She swung around, and sure enough, there stood Ashley. She stood there in her signature tight, black dress that was accompanied by a pair of black stilletos. She had her hair done in one long ponytail that rested on her shoulder, and her face bore a smirk.

The last time Fionna had seen her was when she and Cake were tricked into going into Marshall's memory and retrieve a break-up memory.

"Hey there, mortal."

Fionna took a defensive stance, "My name is Fionna. I thought that was made clear when you got pummeled last time."

Ashley's smirk seemed to grow wider, "Heh, you got lucky that time. You had your damn cat with you, but I don't see her around this time blondie."

Fionna closed her fists, "Are you teliing me that you think you can kick my ass?"

"I don't _think_ I can, I _know_ I can."

Two energy balls began to form in the sorceress' hands, an emerald color began to coat the room, turning her pale skin into a sick green color as she continued to smirk.

Fionna brought both her fists up; being weaponless was never a problem for her, especially since she could just resort to her surroundings to fight, if not her own limbs.

They both stood there, eyes locked onto each other. Neither one of them made a move; each one waiting for the other to make the first move. Eventually, they realized that a move wasn't going to be made. Without breaking eye contact, they both slowly relaxed their stances.

Fionna took a small breath, "What are you doing here?"

The sorceress cocked an eyebrow, "You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"This thing with Marshall Lee and The Imprisoned has traveled far across this land already. Tell me, is it true that the Ice Queen is dead?"

Fionna remembered how the villainess' remains looked. She fought not to gag as she remembered the sight of the broken body, the bone that stuck out from the skin, and the blood that coated the snow-covered grounds. Without another word, she looked at Ashley and nodded.

"Hmm, sad. Believe it or not I actually learned a few tricks from that old hag."

Gumball, who had been silent during the intense moment, spoke up. "Ashley, why are you here? What could you possibly want from us?"

The pale-skinned being placed a hand on her hip, "It's simple. I heard about Marshall and The Imprisoned, so naturally I came because you need my help to get Marshall back."

Fionna cocked an eyebrow this time, "There's a way to get him back? I highly doubt that. He's too far gone."

"He's not actually. You see, if The Imprisoned unlocked Marshall's hidden powers then the only way to get Marshall back is to kill The Imprisoned."

Gumball and Fionna shared a shocked look. _Kill_ The Imprisoned?

The prince turned to Ashley, "You can't be serious. The Imprisoned is a powerful entity that shows no weakness, there's no way we can even kill it."

Ashley chuckled lightly, "Oh, but there is. See there _is_ a reason why it's known as 'The Imprisoned'. Can you guess why?"

Fionna folded her arms, "Because it's sealed up or something?"

"Correct, guess you are smart blondie. See the way it looks now isn't it's true form because the elders of the Twilit Tribe sealed it's powers because it was too powerful. But thing is that when they placed the seal on it, they zapped it of most of it's powers. They basically left the damn thing no stronger than the Ice Queen. The remainder of it's power is contained in a crystal that can be found in the Howling Mountains."

"Then why have you not gone to get it?", asked Gumball.

"Becuase there is a beast up there protecting it. But it won't matter if you get it; The Imprisoned has another way of regaining it's power. Legend states that if it can find a host that can withstand the onslaught of it's immense power then it will possess said host and hibernate within it. Once enough time has passed, it's true form will emerge and it will be as strong as that other entity you have to deal with, 'Luna'."

Fionna let out a long sigh, "I'm guessing that host is Marshall?"

Ashley nodded, "Yes."

Fionna turned to Gumball, "So this was The Imprisoned's plan all along. To manipulate Marshall into allowing his hidden powers to be unlocked just so he could be used to birth The Imprisoned's true self."

He shook his head in disbelief, "What can be done?"

Fionna took a breath, "Only one thing can be done."

She turned to Ashley, "We're going to the Howling Mountains."

* * *

**AN:**

**Don't worry, that cat-fight will happen eventually.**


	4. Here to Take the Sky

The Howling Mountains gained their name from the air current that passed through the peaks of the mountains. It produced a high-pitched, wolf-like howl that caused many travelers to become paranoid with the fact that a monstrous creature lived there. This would cause anyone and anything to steer clear of the high passages that lurked deep within the great rocks. They were wise to do however, for there really was something hidden deep within that area. Something that was always protecting a shining crystal.

* * *

Ashley looked up at the mountains, hesitancy washing over her. She turned to her blonde companion, who, herself, was looking for a way to begin hiking up the mountains. Fionna pointed to a path towards the left of the area, which seemed to lead into the deepest part of the mountains, "Look, we can go through there and try to find another path that will take us up the mountain."

Ashley scoffed, "Really? That's your big plan, to hike up there?". Fionna nodded, "And if all else fails then we can climb the rocks until we find a path."

Ashley had a look of complete disbelief as Fionna turned to look at her. "Are you kidding me blondie?", she pointed to her black stiletto boots, "You really expect me to climb in these?"

Fionna crossed her arms, "Well you can levitate, right?", she waited until Ashley gave her a quick nod, "Then why don't you fly us up there?"

The witch rolled her eyes, smirking as she walked over to were the dirt path started. She began to levitate, and suddenly crashed to the ground. She winced as she stood up and faced Fionna. "There you go. I _can't_ levitate us up there because there's some form of magic that cancels out all other forms emitting from the damn place."

Fionna had an amused look on her face, "Why didn't you just tell me you couldn't take us up there instead of making yourself look silly?". The fact that Ashley's skin was a rather pale white did not help a bit as her face flushed with embarrassment. "Sh..shut it!".

The blonde teenager stifled a giggle and turned back to the immense mountains that stood in front of them. She knew that the key to defeat The Imprisoned and save Marshall was hidden somewhere within them, and she _would_ get it. No matter what the creature guarding it was, no matter how vicious it was, no matter how deadly it was, she was going to get that crystal.

She turned to her companion, "Ready?". Ashley let out a sigh and nodded, walking towards the dirt path. Fionna couldn't help but shake her head; how could a guy like Marshall have dated a girl like Ashley?

A sudden electrical surge found it's way to her chest, as Fionna shook her head in an attempt to push those thoughts down. Yet, she could not forget how it felt as if her heart had been jerked when she thought about those two as a couple. Shaking her head once more, she quickly followed Ashley.

* * *

"Will you hurry it up?", called Fionna over her shoulder. They had been traveling on the dirt path for quite some time now with the sun right above them. Ashley was reluctant to even try to venture into the mountains, and the fact that the sun seemed to be mocking them from overhead did not help one bit.

The witch finally caught up to her, and bent over panting. "Do..don't tell me to hurry it up. The damn sun is right over us and I'm not dressed to go on a walk in the mountains."

Fionna scoffed, "Maybe if you had worn something else it wouldn't be as difficult."

Ashley wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked up at her with a look of distaste. Fionna just shrugged and looked around. The path seemed to end as it reached a slanted face of the rocks ahead; there was nowhere else to go but up since they were already surrounded by tall, silver slabs.

She turned to her white-haired companion and pointed up, "We have to climb dude. There's no other way to the top."

Ashley looked up at the mountain-side, and let out an exasperated sigh, "Really? You can't expect me to _climb_?". Fionna looked at her straight in the eyes, "You'll climb if you want to rescue Marshall."

With that, the adventuress turned to the rocks, put one leg up on a ledge, grabbed another with her hand, and began to climb. She heard yet another exasperated sigh from her companion, but did not turn back to her for she knew that Ashley would climb if it was meant to help Marshall. A surge of electricity found it's way to her chest again, and Fionna's mind was full of scenes in which Marshall had an arm around Ashley. She tried her hardest to push them down, but was taken by surprise as her mind replaced Ashley with her own self.

As she seemed to daydream, something caught her sight. She quickly turned her head to the side, where the flat tops of a couple of rocks served as a stable surface. _'I know I saw-', _her thought was cut short as Ashley yelled at her in a shrill voice. "Are you going to keep going or not! We can't just hang onto the ledges forever!"

Fionna shook her head one last time and continued to climb. The feeling of being watched seemed to wash all over her like a tidal wave as a nervous feeling seemed to gather in her stomach. Nevertheless, she continued to climb, determined now, more than ever, to find that crystal.

* * *

The shadow-being had almost been spotted, something that wasn't planned. Thanks to it's ability to teleport though, it didn't matter if it had been spotted. The two climbing up to it's domain would just dismiss it a trick on their eyes due to the sun. The Imprisoned chuckled softly, it's voice always ranging from a child's to a deep demonic one. The female known as Fionna was starting to become a nuisance, a problem that it would deal with personally in a matter of minutes.

* * *

Fionna gripped the ledge as firmly as she could, pulled herself up, and turned over to reach down and pull Ashley up. She gripped the girl's hand as firmly as she could, and pulled her up without any real effort. Yet, they were both panting from the fact that they had to scale the mountain-side. They both laid down on their backs and looked up to the sky, gulping down air.

When she had caught her breath, Ashley sat up and looked at Fionna. "Why?", she asked in a rather soft tone of voice. Fionna sat up as she caught her own breath and looked at her with a puzzled look on her face, "What?". Ashley looked up at the blue sky, "Why are you so willing to rescue Marshall?". Looking up at the sky also, Fionna replied with the honest reason. "To save my friend. I know he needs help, I can't explain how I know that for sure, but I can feel that he needs his friends. As much as he doesn't advertise it, Marshall actually likes the fact that he has friends that care for him."

She turned to the witch, "And you? Why are you so willing to help me save him?". Ashley smirked, "Well not really help you save him blondie. I want to grab that crystal and put a stop to The Imprisoned and Luna. I mean sure, Marshall and I haven't been on the best of terms these past years, but I don't want him to rampage around the land like a lunatic. But I'm mostly in it because I don't want to _die_."

Fionna was about to say something in return, when a gust of wind began to blow from behind the two. They both stood up and turned to face two boulders that were side-by-side, although they seemed to be out of place. The wind began to intensify as the boulders grew apart, revealing a cave entrance. The gust became a series of violent wind bursts as the boulders finally parted.

Shielding her eyes, Fionna called over to Ashley over the sound of the wind's howling. "I'm guessing this is why it's called the 'Howling Mountains?'". Fionna could see Ashley nod through her squinted eyesight. She used her diaphragm to project her voice as loudly as she could, "Can you see anything?". Ashley shook her head, "I can't see squat! Wait! I can _feel_ something on its way here!".

As she was about to ask how, Fionna felt the wind die out, allowing them both to lower their arms and see clearly. "Fionna, look!", Ashley's voice contained some worry as she alerted the blonde. Fionna looked up, and froze in fear at what she saw.

The hunched figure stood there growling at the two. There stood a creature that was similar to one of the caramel gorillas that lived in the Liquorice Forest, but something about it was just horribly wrong. Its rotten flesh barely clung onto its bones, and it sported razor-sharp claws. One of its eyes was completely blank nothing but a white orb, while the other eye socket was empty. It reminded Fionna of the horrible undead, wolf-like creature known as a Baneling.

"Fionna, that thing over-head on the cave's entrance!". Ashley was pointing to an upside-down crystal that was right above the entrance. As Fionna squinted, she could tell that something was written on the object, a shape that appeared to be a pentagram with an 'X' overlapping it. "That's the thing that's shutting out all other forms of magic, I can't be of much help to you if we can't do something about it". The adventuress nodded, she knew that the crystal had to be destroyed, and she knew there was only one way.

The undead primate looked from Ashley to Fionna, and back again. It appeared to be confused as to why there were two creatures here. As it kept observing them the adventuress reached back and drew her sword, pointing the tip of the blade at the gorilla. Immediately, it stood on its hind legs and began to beat its chest while letting out deep roars. While it was still sizing them up, she ran at it while uttering a battle cry.

The creature seemed confused by her sudden action, but uttered a deep roar and met her charge with one of his own. Fionna placed the blade of her sword to the ground as she sprinted causing the metal to heat up as she dragged it across the rocky ground. When they were a little more than two meters apart, she picked up the blade and sprinted harder. The sizzling blade seemed to cut through the whooshing noise the air was making. As she did that, the undead creature leaped forward, and brought its fist forward in hopes to crush the teen's skull in. Fionna saw this as her opportunity to strike, brought the blade as far back as she could and swung it vertically making sure to put her full weight into the strike.

She made contact; the heated metal sliced through the rotten flash and bone easily. As the creature started to fall apart the momentum she had built up worked; she twirled her body under its hind legs, twisted over and placed her feet on its parting back. In the next millisecond, Fionna looked up and spotted the crystal. Using all her strength, she pushed herself off while swinging her blade horizontally. The still-hot blade sliced through the crystal as easily as it had done to the primate.

She landed in a crouching position, and turned around in time to see the remains of the monster hit the ground. She looked up at Ashley, "Freeze it before it regenerates!". The witch nodded, and thanks to the crystal being destroyed, used her returning magic to launch an ice blast as the chunks of flesh that were beginning to come together.

Fionna stood up, and sheathed her sword once more. If it weren't for Ashley, that fight would have taken longer than it should have, if not have ended good at all. "Is that a Baneling?", Ashley asked, a disgusted look visible on her face. "Kinda.", Fionna bent down to examine one of the frozen halves, "But if it was a Baneling then it wouldn't have gone down so quickly."

Standing up, the teen turned to look at the cave entrance, she could not help but wonder if more of them were inside. As she began to walk to it she called over her shoulder, "You should blast one of the parts, just to make sure it can't come back". She continued walking, with a rather satisfied look on her face as she heard an explosion behind her and was joined by Ashley at the entrance.

The cave was surprisingly well lit with a purple-ish hue. It helped them both see everything inside the rather small cave, including a rather dark stone tablet that was a little bit in front of them. Ashley approached it and ran her hand across the top of the tablet. She turned to Fionna, "It's a a door that is fortified by magic, and if I'm right then we have to bring it an offering."

Resting a hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow, Fionna asked, "An 'offering'? What kind of 'offering' are we talking about?". Ashley snapped her fingers and a ceremonial dagger appeared in her hand, "Blood."

Ashley placed the blade on her palm, pulled it, and placed her now bloody palm on the tablet. Instantly, the door began to glow as it crackled down the middle. It parted open, and revealed a secret, vault-like room. As the sorceress began to heal her hand, Fionna moved past her and stepped into the room. Immediately a bright blue light began to illuminate from a stone pillar ahead of them. The light was shining with such intensity that it caused both of them to cover their eyes.

"I'm assuming that the crystal we came for is right there", Ashley said. Fionna smirked, "Did the bright light give it away?". Chuckling, the witch formed an energy ball and tossed it over to the center of the blue light. The illumination ceased, and a clear orb that contained a crystal the size of Fionna's hand floated back to them. They had it, they had gotten the source of the power that fueled The Imprisoned. All that was left to do was to use it against the creature and save Marshall Lee.

"Shall we get going?", Ashley looked at Fionna, "We do have a deity to stop right?". With that said she turned around and began to walk back to the entrance. Fionna watched her walk a bit, then turned to cast one final look at the room. She couldn't help but feel that it was too easy to acquire the crystal. Regardless, she turned and followed in the white-haired teens footsteps.

She looked ahead, and saw that Ashley had stopped right at the entrance of the cave. She was looking out and seemed to be frozen in place. Fionna jogged up to her side, looked out, and realized why she was not moving. There was no mistaking the child-sized, shadow being that stood near the edge of the cliff; The Imprisoned was here.

Its yellow eyes looked from Ashley to Fionna, and then to the orb in the witch's hands. The Imprisoned looked up at Fionna and spoke in its ever-changing voice. "You have been a thorn in my side human. I spare your life simply because Marshall Lee and I had an agreement, and instead of being grateful and keeping your nose out of our business, I find you here. I find you in the place where I keep the most concentrated pieces of my energy locked away, not by choice of course, as the Elders of the Twilit Tribe chose to take them away from me."

Fionna was shocked, Marshall Lee had asked The Imprisoned to spare her life? There really was some good left in him, and she would make sure to return the favor and save him. Ashley spoke up, "So you're here to try and stop us?"

The creature chuckled, "I'm not here to 'try', I _will_ stop you."

The ground began to crack as the air sizzled; The Imprisoned was getting ready for a fight. "Ashley", Fionna turned to look at the teen next to her, "Can you place a spell on the crystal and keep it levitating? We can't afford to have it break."

The witch nodded, uttered a few words, and stood back as a green barrier appeared around the clear orb. It levitated to a safe region above the cave entrance. They both turned to face The Imprisoned, Fionna drawing her sword and Ashley charging up magical orbs in her hands.

The creature lifted one of its smoky arms up, and a dark energy ball began to form quickly. As it grew in size, an electrical, purple aura began to surround it. It was roughly two feet in diameter when The Imprisoned lobbed it at them. Everything seemed to slow down; Fionna had just begun to bend her legs in order to jump aside when it was within two feet of her. Using all her strength, she pushed off the ball of her foot as the mass of energy just grazed her arm. A painful, needle-like sensation shot up into her chest, she could not believe the damn thing had moved so fast.

She was about to hit the ground when she looked up to where Ashley had moved. The witch was charging up an electrical blast when The Imprisoned teleported directly in front of her. As it grabbed her by the neck, It twirled around and sent her flying straight to the rocky floor. Thanks to her ability of flying, Ashley stopped herself about two feet before she hit the ground, turned, and fired the electricity at The Imprisoned.

The attack hit its mark, and The Imprisoned seemed to be temporarily stunned. It suddenly dawned on Fionna as she finally hit the ground: The Imprisoned was weak against electricity. Ashley saw her opportunity, and flew up, charging her fist with more of the element. Just as she was about to reach the creature, two beams shot her in the chest, and sent her crashing to the ground. Finally, time began to move at its regular pace.

The shadow creature panted slightly as it touched back down. The air began to crackle, and Fionna knew that it was pissed. Ashley was struggling to her feet when it grabbed her by the throat. "You will pay for that, you worthless slime."

Fionna charged forward, sword at the ready. It turned to face her and raised one of its shadowy fingers. There was no time to react as a beam shot out and caught her in the chest. Something cold passed through her, and she suddenly lost the will to fight. Crashing to the ground, Fionna coughed and whimpered slightly, she could not regain her composure. All she could do was look up in terror at what was going to happen to Ashley.

The Imprisoned tightened the grip it held on Ashley's throat, and effortlessly lifted her up. She kicked and struggled but she couldn't escape the death grip around her neck. Slowly, the life was draining out of her; she couldn't breathe at all, she was a fish out of water, it was only a matter of time before she would die. The Imprisoned let out an otherworldly cackle and began to levitate. Ashley struggled harder as she felt more than a cold grip around her throat. The coldness was moving to every part of her body, slowly but surely. '_Dammit'_, she thought, _'I..I can't get...free_".

When they were about five feet in the air, The Imprisoned lifted her as high above its head, and sent her crashing to the ground. Since she was too weak, she did nothing but wait as she painfully met the ground in a hit that resonated throughout the mountain tops. She knew something was broken, she had felt it snap, but it didn't matter for she was on the verge of blacking out.

Fionna willed herself to get up and save her, but she could do nothing but whimper and slowly crawl towards the beating. She watched in absolute horror as The Imprisoned took to the air once more. This time, it lifted both of its shadowy hands and began to charge up another dark energy orb. This time however, it was more than twice the size of the previous one. It looked at Fionna, "This is what happens when you trifle with things you have no business in!". It turned back to the weak form on the ground and lobbed the energy ball straight at it.

Ashley saw it coming straight at her, and feebly raised one hand. She used her remaining strength to try and charge up an energy blast of her own, but all that she produced was a weak spark of energy. There was a buzzing noise in the air as the orb grew close accompanied by a bright light, and they became louder and brighter, respectively, as it closed in on her. She closed her eyes, and took a breath.

"Ashley!", Fionna cried out seconds before the blast hit, but she knew it was too late. The force of the explosion broke chunks of the ground and sent them flying in all directions. Fionna did her best to shield her eyes, but she could not see past the blinding flash the blast had produced. It was because of this that she did not see the slab of rock that flew straight at her until it was right in front of her.

There was a sickening crunch as her head was knocked back and she fell to her side. She could feel the liquid flowing out of her nose and down her to her mouth, but she did not put a hand to it for she was barely conscious. She did however look up and see a rather odd figure standing in front of her. It's body was made of a blue light, the polar opposite of The Imprisoned. The connection took a second longer than it should have, but Fionna knew that Luna stood in front of her.

The celestial being kneeled down in front of her and spoke in a voice that ranged between a child's and a woman's. "Do not fret, for it is nearly time. I shall wipe the slate clean, and the dawn of a new day will come. Do not forget, the two halves will come together to form one being."

She faded with the lonely gust of wind that passed by Fionna's weakened body. She couldn't think straight any more, so she just looked out to the horizon. There was something moving towards the mountain, something that seemed like a giant noodle. She wouldn't be able to find out what it was though; the adventuress blacked out.


	5. Daylight Dies Pt 1: Rain

Everything was fuzzy, and it all hurt.

Fionna slowly began to take in her surroundings. She was in a long, grand hallway made of...graham? It took her a minute to realize that she was in the Candy Palace. It seemed to be night-time since the sky outside the window that faced her bed was a dark blue hue.

With every breath she took, she could feel her body protest with pinpricks of pain, every fiber of her being begging to stop such a painful movement that was necessary to live. The only thing her body allowed her to move with out hassling her with a fresh slap of pain was her head, and move it she did. She looked down at herself and winced slightly at the stains of blood on some of the bandages and wraps that covered her wounds. Trailing her arm with her eyes, she looked at her hand, head at an awkward angle as she did her best to tilt it. The bandages that surrounded her hand were thicker than the ones on her body, so she grew curious, but also afraid at what could have happened to her hand.

She took a painful breath, and attempted to sit up, a task that not only proved to be difficult, but also painful. As she managed to get herself to an upright position, her head began to pound in protest; rest was needed for the wounded adventuress, but she would not heed to the warning. The task completed, Fionna took a moment to look around once again, not seeing any changes in the room she was in. Spotting the door at the end of the hall and knowing her next destination, she turned to look at the table next to her, where all her equipment was, the sword propped up against the wooden table with the backpack and bunny hat slung on it's hilt.

_'Okay'_, she thought, _ 'You can do this, it might hurt like nothing you've felt yet, but you can do this'_. Her reassurance was growing weak as she began to try and move her legs. Pain shot up her body and an involuntary whimper found its way out of the blondes lips. She managed to get her legs off the bed before the pain that snaked up to her body became unbearable and she had to hold onto the sides of the bed in order to stay upright. _'Okay, you weren't expecting **that** much pain, but it could be worse.'_

The teen took a break from trying to get off the bed in order to allow the pain to subside. She took another look outside the window, and her eyes met with the now darkened, cloudy skies of the night that had been passing over the land in the recent days.

There was no real explanation for the sudden change in the weather; the warm, bright days of summer were now as gloomy, and dark as the days of winter. The only excuse that Fionna could make for the sudden weather freak-out was the blue orb that hung in the sky. An orb that never went down as the other two orbs that accompanied the night and day did, an orb that had begun to glow a darker hue of blue with each passing day.

It had appeared the day that Fionna had fought the Baneling for the last time, the same day that Marshall left them behind. She could almost remember everything about that battle; Fionna had been forced to run through the village that was found within the castle walls just to try and think of a way to fight the undead brute. The fight had ended up destroying several chunks of buildings, on top of reducing a whole house into nothing but crumbs. Regardless, the creature had gained the upper hand when Fionna was busy attacking the Ice Queen. The Baneling delivered a heavy blow that had sent her flying, and caused her to slide across the gravel. All she had to do was close her eyes, and Fionna could feel those wounds again; the thousands of white-hot needles that seemed to stab at her body when she collided with the rough ground.

She bowed to never allow herself to be so helpless again, but to no avail. The bruises and cuts that covered her body, on top of her injured hand were all signs of her more recent _beating_. It couldn't be called a battle by any means, because no matter how anyone saw it, The Imprisoned had thrown both her and Ashley around like a couple of rag dolls. Oh, but the one that had sustained the most injuries wasn't Fionna, but Ashley. The teen could clearly remember how The Imprisoned had just beaten Ashley until not only the fight had left her, but also her life. The terrible memory clawed its way up from the abyss and settled into her mind. The damn thing had already choked, punched, and blasted the sorceress to the brink of death, but it wasn't enough for the power-hungry deity. After leaving Ashley battered and bruised on the floor, The Imprisoned had floated feet above her, charged up the strongest energy blast Fionna had ever seen, and thrown it straight down at the limp figure that was Ashley.

She looked down in despair at her hand, remembering the feeling of hopelessness that had begun to sink into her when the first blast the damned shadowy figure had launched at them just _grazed_ her forearm, and instantly rendered it useless. Not only that, but she had also lost the will to fight, she just couldn't do anything other than whimper as the poor sorceress fell to that damned shadow deity. She looked down at her hand, a feeling that she had only experienced a couple of times before building up inside, and tried to move it only to have pain shoot up her arm and seep into her chest. She didn't realize it as she continued to try and move her battered appendage, but tears had begun to form a trail down her cheeks.

The tears were from pure frustration. The more and more she fought for everything that was right, the harder things became. She could remember, that only five months ago, she was living her normal life, beating the stuffing out of random wizards, ogres, cyclops, and many others. Now it all seemed like it was a dream, that moment in life where everything is so easy for a person, the moment where everything is peaceful, nothing but a ploy of a higher being to make her life hell. She let out a angry cry, and for once in her life, Fionna did not give one flying fuck if anyone heard her screaming and crying, this was too much for a teenage girl. It was just too overwhelming.

"K..keep it down."

The voice that croaked feebly over Fionnas wails startled the young teen for she had thought she was alone in the medical ward. Bringing her hands to her face, she quickly rubbed her eyes to clear her former blurry vision and looked around the room. She could not see who the voice had originated from, or even know _where_ it originated from, so she called out. "Is there someone there?".

She waited, maybe it had just been her imagination, and just as she was about to dismiss the sound as nothing more than a trick brought on by fatigue, the voice spoke up again. "Yeah..and I asked you t..to keep it down blondie."

Fionna realized the voice was coming from somewhere off her left and began to scan the room with her eyes squinted. She made sure to look at each bed carefully and soon enough she found the person to whom the voice belonged. Ten beds over on the other side of the hall, a motionless person had the sheets pulled up to their neck, and they bore a wrap around the top of their head. From where she was, that's all Fionna could see. If she wanted to have any idea who the person was then she would have to will her tired body to move.

She took a deep breath, followed by a couple of quick ones, then used her arms to try and push herself into a standing position. The pain made her whimper slightly and caused her eyes to water a little, but the blonde continued to fight through the pain until she was completely standing.

She took another deep breath and bent down to retrieve her sword. The simple task became complex due to her wounds, but as the pain began to flow through her, Fionna became determined. She fought through it as best as she could, and was rewarded by being fully erect a second later. Using her sword as a crutch, she began to limp over to the bed on which the person was lying down. It was only a matter of feet, but it became miles as her body screamed, the muscles begging to stop. When she finally arrived, she took a seat on the table next to the bed and placed her sword on the wall beside her.

She took a look at the person on the bed and withheld a gasp. Although covered in many wraps that bore stains of blood, some fresh and some dry, there was no mistaking her; Ashley was _alive_.

"Ashley...you're.."

"Alive?", the sorceress finished, a small smirk playing on her face. At least Fionna assumed it was a smirk. The wraps around her face covered everything save for an eye and part of her mouth. The rest of her was wrapped up that she resembled one of the mummies that Fionna had fought in the Underworld. The blonde inhaled slowly, "How did you manage to survive the fight?".

Ashley chuckled, well at least _tried_ to chuckle. She managed to get a small giggle out before she coughed violently, a raspy sound finding its way out of her instead. The wraps started to grow crimson as blood they began to soak up the fresh blood that found its way out of her covered wounds. Fionna didn't know what to do, she couldn't go and get help because her body couldn't bare another attempt at trying to move. Her eyes darted upwards, above Ashleys bed, and landed on a golden switch that was used to call for assistance. As the blood began to drip out of the bandages that had been soaking them up, Fionna bolted up and mashed the button.

A couple of candy nurses, accompanied by Dr. Prince, came in from the door that was on the beds left. As the nurses began to tend to Ashley, Dr. Prince looked at Fionna curiously. "Fionna, what are you doing up? Your wounds are very severe, you _must_ be in bed."

"I feel fine, really I do", she replied. The prince simply shook his head and gestured towards one of the beds, "I'm sure you do, but it's mandatory that you stay in bed until further notice."

"Heh, 'mandatory'? Under who's law?", she asked, gingerly placing a hand on her hip. Before the prince could reply, Ashley suddenly fell limp and the nurses looked at the machine that showed her vitals. They seemed to stabilize...and then dropped at an unexpected rate.

"Dr. Prince, we need your assistance!", one of the nurses called out. Turning around, he reached into his coat pocket and produced a needle and syringe. Fionna stood up, all pain in her body replaced by concern, and followed as the prince moved over to Ashleys convulsing figure and injected it into her. A few seconds later, Ashley fell limp once more as her vitals began to stabilize sluggishly.

Fionna looked at the prince, "Is there anything you can do for her?". To her disappointment, he shook his head, "All we can do is keep her from bleeding out or having another seizure. At least until we get the flower here."

As Fionna made to ask what he meant, her question was answered without the words leaving her mouth. The doors on the other side of the medical hall opened as Prince Gumball, Cake, and another person walked in. It didn't take Fionna longer than a second to recognize the other person; there wasn't mistaking who he was the fact that he wore the crown of a prince, and was made of fire gave it away immediately. Gumball cleared his throat, "Fionna, it's good that you're up. I'm more than sure that I don't have-".

"Fionna, are you alright?", Flame Prince briskly walked passed Gumball, who began to look grumpy at being interrupted. Fionna took note of his appearance. Flame Prince was wearing a vest that had a custom v-neckline which bore a ruby. Under the vest he wore a light orange, long sleeve shirt that held a red flame outline. To top it off, he appeared to be wearing orange sneakers that matched his orange tight-jeans. The look seemed to fit the fact that he always had his hair styled into a mohawk. She admitted it was a little unorthodox for a prince to look the way he did, but then again he always had a certain attitude that rivaled that of Marshall Lees. Needless to say, if Marshall Lee could dress the way he did and hold the title of a king, then Flame Prince could have his own style too.

Now that she thought about it, Fionna hadn't seen Flame Prince in almost a year. The last time she had seen him was when she helped him build a sort of hut made with wood that Gumball had concocted a potion for. The potion had guaranteed that the wood would never burn to a crisp and would light whenever Flame prince entered the hut. All in all, they became good friends, but she could not help but feel a kind of fluttering feeling in her stomach whenever they had hung out, similar to how she had it when she hung out with Marshall.

"Y..yeah, I..I'm fine", she stuttered. She _always_ became nervous around him. _'Dammit, get a grip!'_, she thought, a blush finding it's way up to her cheeks. As if her nervousness wasn't obvious already, he flashed her a smile, and, in turn, her face became flushed. The silence in the room, save for the beeping noise from Ashleys vitals, was not helping one bit. Cake noticed the rising tension between the two, folded her arms, cocked an eyebrow, and cleared her throat. Before she could say something, Prince Gumball spoke up.

"Isn't there something you brought that will heal Ashley, Flame Prince?", his voice showing how annoyed he seemed to be at how the two were acting. Cake threw him a dirty look that he waved off, "I mean that is why you decided to show up in my kingdom, correct?"

Flame prince looked at Gumball, then at Fionna, and then cleared his throat. "Yeah, there is a reason I'm here. Word got to the Fire Kingdom that you were trying to stop something or someone called 'Luna'. When I heard that Marshall Lee had betrayed you guys and sided with The Imprisoned, I knew I had to come and help you."

He reached into his pocket and produced a small parcel that had Flame Shield cast on it. Moving over to Fionna, he held it out to her. "I also heard that The Imprisoned had almost killed you and your friend. Of course, I grew concerned for you, for both of you that is, and went deep into the mountains to find this."

Taking it, Fionna pulled on the simple lace knot that seemed to hold the packaging together. As she pulled the lace away, the shield around it withered away to reveal a flower. A flower with purple-like veins that traced its ultramarine petals. It was no ordinary flower, and she knew it; a Twilit Flower, a flower known for its abilities to heal virtually _anything_, now sat in her hands.

She looked up at him, "Thank you, thank you so much."

In truth, she would rather hug him, but she really did not want to risk the chance of being burned. He smiled, "We have to stand together and take care of each other Fionna. Now use the flower on you and your friend, its powers don't last long once it's been plucked from the root."

Nodding, she moved over to Ashley, gently placing it on her stomach. The flower began to react at once, it began to cast a baby blue light around the room that was accompanied by the glow of the purple veins. The shining flower bathed Ashley in its brilliant light and then, it was done. The light was retracted as the flower had done the job it was meant to do. Taking it off Ashleys stomach, Fionna looked down and noticed the scratches that were on her cheek had vanished, sealed with no signs of ever being there.

Fionna spoke in a gentle tone as she carefully nudged her. "Ashley? Wake up, you're better now. Come on, wake up dude, don't be so lazy."

The sorceress slowly opened her eyes and looked up at her, "Do you have to sound so annoying?"

Fionna cocked an eyebrow, "Well excuse me for trying to make sure you woke up without straining yourself."

That being said, the witch stood up and began to stretch. "Wow, I feel like I just woke up from a peaceful sleep. Haven't had many of those in the months that passed, huh?"

The blonde shook her head, "No, but thanks to Flame Prince, we at least have something that will help us this one time."

That being said, Fionna placed the flower on her lap and watched as the spectacular light show began. Sure enough, she could feel her muscles relax and all the stress lighten. She had no idea when was the last time she had felt so full of energy. The light faded away, and Fionna was back in action. She carefully placed the flower on the table beside the bed and turned to face the others.

"How are you feeling baby?" Cake asked, moving over and embracing her. Fionna gave her a small smile, "Completely better."

She hugged Cake in return as Gumball cleared his throat and motioned for everyone to gather around him. "As you know, Fionna and Ashley had set a course for the Howling Mountains. They were to retrieve a crystal that contained The Imprisoneds powers and bring it back here to find a way to use it against It. Unfortunately, The Imprisoned was there and nearly beat the two into the next life. I admit, I should have departed for the mountains sooner and tried to meet up with the two. They could have been spared such a grueling match, but alas I could not. Upon having Lord Monochromicorn phase them into his body, I discovered a magical orb floating nearby that contained a crystal."

He reached into his magenta sleeve and pulled out a light blue crystal. Fionna looked at him in shock, "But I assumed that The Imprisoned had taken it away after beating us."

Gumball shook his head, "The orb had hidden itself amongst the rubble near the prone form of Ashley. Here it is, the key to beating The Imprisoned and saving our dead Marshall Lee."

Ashley smirked at the blonde, "There yah go, we did it, I almost died but hey, we at least got it."

Fionna returned the smirk with one of her own as she reached for the light-blue crystal. No sooner had her fingers brushed against it, Cake turned to look at the dark end of the hall and hissed loudly.

"There's someone else here!", she warned them. They all looked at the spot that Cake was looking at and it was Ashley who spoke next. "She's right, I can sense that there's another presence in this room."

Reaching over for her sword, Fionna turned to Gumball and Flame Prince. "Make sure the crystal is safe, we need it to end this nightmare."

They nodded simultaneously, and Gumball quickly placed the crystal inside one of his breast pockets. Flame Prince turned to face the end of the hall and produced two flaming orbs in his hands.

Clapping began to ring out as they all squinted their eyes to see who it was. The yellow eyes suddenly stood out from the shadows, unlike Its body. Moving in a rather calm pace, the shadow-being stepped into the light that poured in from the window. The Imprisoned clapped a few more times before letting out a sharp sigh that sounded warped because of its rather synthetic voice.

"Bravo", It said, "You succeeded in surviving our little encounter. Further more, it appears you used one of my tribes flowers to fully recover. You bunch are rather resourceful, aren't you?"

When no one else spoke, The Imprisoned let out a frustrated sigh. "Well, as resourceful as you are, you have begun to annoy me. I believe you have something that belongs to me, and I would like to have it back."

"The only way you're getting it back is by getting through us!", Ashley snarled.

The Imprisoned chuckled, "Although _we_ have developed a thirst for bloodshed, only one of us will be fighting you."

The question of what The Imprisoned meant by _"Us"_ was answered immediately.

A hiss echoed in the hall that caused all eyes to turn to the ceiling to see a shape hanging upside-down, a shape that had yellow-catlike eyes. It suddenly plunged to the ground, landing in a crouched position. Although his flannel and jeans had more rips and tears than the last time they had seen him, there was no doubt in their minds. In front of them, clearly thirsty for action, was Marshall Lee.


	6. Notice

**Author's note:**

I have decided to combine "Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts" with the first part of the trilogy, "Heads or Tails? Real or Not?". This is done to make in more convenient for you readers since you would only have to click on one title to get the full story. If you haven't read any of "Heads or Tails?", then don't worry it should all be up in the course of a week or two. Just keep an eye out for, "All You Ever Knew".


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